Even for a city accustomed to creative outsiders like Chicago Nikki Lynette is something new (ex. her new single "
Beneath My City"), but if you're upset because Nikki doesn't fit neatly into any category, you can kiss her ass. In the latest edition of our
My City series, Nikki talks about her place in the Chi's incredible musical diversity, overcoming adversity, and explains why everyone loves her. That's right; everyone.
RefinedHype: Chicago's currently a mecca for creative hip-hop (Common, Lupe, Kanye, etc.), and you're certainly no stranger to artistic exploration. What is it about the Chi that breeds such creativity?
Nikki Lynette: Chicago is a very interesting city. It's really segregated and divided. If you compare the Lincoln Park neighborhood on the North Side of Chicago to K Town on the West Side or The Low End on the South Side, it's like being in three different cities. We have no defined underlying culture, so similarly, we have no defined sound in music. Acts like Twista, Psycho Drama, Fall Out Boy, Common, Crucial Conflict, The Smashing Pumpkins, Lupe, Kanye, they all sound different but they each represent an aspect of Chicago. And that is why we are so bad ass. We're really good at bringing who we are to music, not just where we're from. But that's just my opinion. As you can see, I'm quite biased :o)
RefinedHype: You've described yourself as a "loner in the music game". Do you truly feel like you're alone in making the kind of music you do?
Nikki Lynette: I don't totally consider myself a loner, I just feel like I haven't found where I fit in yet. I sing and rap and produce and do visual art. I've been told I'm not urban enough to make it for years, but now that I'm no longer trying to make urban music anymore, people are starting to take notice. I'm a black, hip hop, punk girl who makes pop music. I catch a lil bit of hate from people who don't get it, but they can go kiss ass, because I'm the only black girl in Chicago right now who has a licensing deal with MTV and is having their music played on major networks. The amount of love I'm getting shows me that I'm doing something right.
Still, it gets confusing. I'm different. I'm not punk enough to do an Afropunk tour but I'm JUST punk enough for them to consistently feature my music. I'm not urban enough for urban radio in Chicago but I AM urban enough to have my music featured on the homepage of Vibe Magazine's website. Ultimately, I had to just give up titles and genres and blah blah blah because I drove myself crazy trying to fit into a box just so that people would acknowledge me. I don't care now. NOBODY fits perfectly into any label, people aren't like that. So I work hard and I do what I want, and a lot of people like it. Strange girls are hot.
RefinedHype: What about your hometown inspires you?
Nikki Lynette: I've lived all over Chicago because there was a point in my life where my mom and my siblings were homeless and had to live in battered women's shelters across the city. So I've experienced living in some of Chicago's poorest neighborhoods as well as living in one of the wealthiest suburbs after my mom worked her way out of poverty. I've lived around more ethnicities of people than I can name. That spectrum of experiences shaped who I am. I love how diverse we are here and I feel like my weird childhood gave me a chance to experience it. It made it so that nothing is strange to me. That kinda makes me see fewer limitations when it comes to my music.
I'm also really inspired to show people in Chicago that achieving something extraordinary is possible. Sometimes I go speak to kids in high school here, and you'd be surprised how pessimistic they are toward each other. That sucks so much to me. You aren't even out in the world yet and you're already telling each othr what you CAN'T do? That's just bad. I do a blog about my experiences called
Becoming Nikki Lynette on one of Chicago's most prominent blog sites,
ChicagoNow.com. I discuss my experiences in the music industry, the good and the bad, so that people can see that even though you will experience limitations and set backs and drama, the end result is worth it. People tell me daily that they are have been watching me grow for a while and they are inspired by what I'm doing. How bad ass it that? That motivates the hell out of me.
RefinedHype: If I'm rolling through Chicago where can I find you?
Nikki Lynette: On Twitter. LoL. Actually, I'm a bit of a homebody. If I am out on the town, it's usually because my boy Ruben of Smash Brothers has dragged me out of the house. I spend most of my time at my boy Matt Hennessy's spot, VSOP Studios. I love producing and recording, and me and Matt have a great working relationship, we kinda kick ass. Matt is a pretty accomplished engineer. I figure it's worth it to have no social life if that means I can spend most of my time working with an engineer that has mixed on Twista and Mariah carey and Destiney's Child records. So yeah...If you're rolling through Chicago I might have to ask YOU where the party is at. That's a huge fail on my part, I know. But so?
RefinedHype: Last words? Shout outs? Confessions?
Nikki Lynette: CONFESSIONS: When I was young I used to be really close minded about what music was cool. Then I made friends with a crazy artsy gay girl named Elaine O'Kelly who got me into a whole new world of music like Portishead, Tricky, Tool, Tori Amos, Incubus, Alanis Morsette, and a bunch of other stuff that was awesome. So she has the credit for turning me out. Not in a lesbo way, I never licked her cooter or anything. She turned me out musically. To this day she's one of the dopest artists I know. Crazy people make the best musicians. LoL.
SHOUT OUTS: I'd like to give a shout out to Jonathan Masters (Same Plate Management), Dee Perkins (HAS Magazine), Neil Caesar (Digiwaxx), Briahna Gatlin (Swank), Ruben Trejo (Smash Brothers), and my background dancers Jahmilah and Phoenix for tolerating my foolishness.
LAST WORDS: Everybody loves me. Nobodies hate me.
